Ardee Community School win Lennon Cup

Three late points down the home straight proved enough for Ardee Community School to take home the Brendan Lennon Cup for the fourth year in a row, as they saw off St Josephs’ Secondary School in Collon on Thursday night last.

Prior to that, Ardee CS led by 1-11 to 1-7 with 12 minutes to go, after Callum Caffrey fired over his side’s fourth two pointer.
But the Joeys came roaring back, with the introduction of Tadgh McDonnell and Leon Regan playing a key role in their revival.

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McDonnell’s presence helped the Joeys win six out of 12 on Ardee’s kickout in that second half.

One such kickout saw McDonnell find Cillian Duff, whose kick pass found Connell Kelly, and he clipped the ball over to leave three between the sides.

Moments later, fellow sub Leon Regan was hauled down in the large square, with referee Stephen Devlin awarding a penalty, which Joeys’ Cillian McQuillan converted to leave the sides level with six minutes remaining.

At that stage, you felt that the momentum was swinging in favour of St Josephs. But in the end, the more cohesive and efficient side won out, with Ardee’s conversion rate of 1-14 of 19 shots proving decisive.

Their ability to navigate their way through these key moments came to the surface, taking the sting out of things, and an ability to win frees.

Charlie McBride, who was simply outstanding on the night with 0-9, landed two frees to give Ardee a two point lead into second half stoppage time.

The Joeys were just not able to make the most of their momentum gathered from McQuillan’s major and were left to rue only amassing 1-8 from 27 shots over the hour, missing chances to take the lead and equalise either side of McBride’s game winning frees.

Tomás Dillon then capitalised on a slack Joeys kickout to assure Ardee win their fourth Lennon Cup in a row. The Joeys opened the scoring through Connell Kelly (f) following a foul on Cillian McQuillan after three minutes.

But that would prove to be the one and only time that the Joeys would lead in this final, with Ardee blitzing them with four points on the trot.

The lively Tomas Dillon then collected a loose Joeys kickout, before being fouled as his goal attempt flew wide, a free converted by Charlie McBride.

The next score did not arrive until the 12th minute when Charlie McBride converted a two pointed free to give Ardee a 0-3 to 0-1 lead.

That lead was increased to three when Tadgh Devanney teed up Pauric Maguire for a cleverly taken score from the right wing coming off the loop.

The Joeys were also seeing a number of attacks breaking down, with the return of Louth minor full back Ciaran Titley to the Ardee CS defence a timely boost, while Shane McMahon also enjoyed an excellent final in that backline.

However, the Joeys were offered a lifeline thanks to a Cillian Duff goal. The Fechins man refused to stand on ceremony after his effort for a point dropped short.

Duff’s shot was collected by Cillian McQuillan in the square, and he set up Duff, who fired the ball to the net to leave the sides level at 0-4 to 1-1 after 17 minutes. Within a minute of Duff’s green flag, Ardee were back in front through Tomas Dillon.

Moments later, their supremacy was restored when the Westerns’ Jack Martin found the net in a move which once again had Tadgh Devanney at the heart of it.

This was one of the few times that Martin got free of the Joeys’ Rian Hickey, who matched him all the way in an intriguing battle between the pair.

To their credit, the Joeys battled back, with Seosamh O’Rourke carrying the fight from midfield, while Donnacha Skinnader capped off an impressive season with another strong performance, with 23 possessions, as did Andrew O’Reilly, who did not deserve to finish on the losing side.

A fine Joey Nally turnover led to Connell Kelly pointing from play via his left foot, while a spectacular Andrew O’Reilly two-pointer left just one between the sides at the break at 1-5 to 1-4.

O’Reilly was also denied following a fine save by Ardee’s Oisin Drumgoole.

Second Half:

Straight from the throw-in, the Joeys were level thanks to Donnacha Skinnader following a run through the Ardee centre.

However, crucially, Ardee won frees outside the scoring arc, with Tadgh Devanney once again as strong support cast for the hardworking pair Flynn Markey and Connal Mannion.

Two frees outside the arch from the near flawless Charlie McBride came either side of a Connell Kelly single free for the Joeys following a 3 v 3 breach, leaving Ardee 1-9 to 1-6 ahead after 38 minutes.

The Joeys turned things around thanks to the introductions of Tadgh McDonnell and Leon Regan. Skinnader and Regan combined for Tadgh McDonnell to leave just two between the sides.

However, that Callum Caffrey two pointer left Ardee with that four point lead with 12 minutes left. Then came the drama, Kelly’s free and McQuillan’s penalty wiped out that lead, and the Joeys looked a decent bet to win their first Lennon Cup since 2016.

However, the Drogheda side’s poor shooting came back to haunt them, kicking 11 wides over the hour.

Ardee then showed that effective game management, with McBride (2fs) and Tomas Dillon, meaning that they win another Lennon Cup with this three point victory, with their dominance in Louth showing little sign of slowing down.

Ardee Community School: Oisin Drumgoole; Shane McMahon, Ciaran Titley, Fionn Coyle; Luke Woods, Tadgh Devanney, Patrick Reynolds; Flynn Markey, Conal Mannion; Pauric Maguire (0-1), Charlie McBride (0-9) (3f) (3 x tpf), Callum Caffrey (0-2) ( 1 x tp); Jake Loughran, Jack Martin (1-0), Tomás Dillon (0-2).

Subs: Conor Clinton for Loughran (36), Olan Crosbie for Caffrey (57).

St Josephs Secondary School: Eoghan McKeown; Stephen Curtis, Rian Hickey, Joey Nally; Michael McGlew, Mark Smith, Donnacha Skinnader (0-1); Seosamh O’Rourke, Jamie O’Halloran; Ewan Hoban, Andrew O’Reilly (0-2) (1 x tp), Jake Flynn; Cillian McQuillan (1-0) (1 pen), Cillian Duff (1-0), Connell Kelly (0-4) (2f).

Subs: Tadgh McDonnell 0-1 for Hoban (41), Leon Regan for Flynn (41), Ben Ryan for O’Halloran (51).

Referee: Stephen Devlin (St Josephs).